Companies in this industry manufacture printing machinery and equipment, including printing presses and binding machinery. Major companies include Goss International, HP, Presstek, and Xerox (all based in the US); Canon, Fuji Xerox, Komori, and Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho (Japan); and Heidelberger, Koenig & Bauer, and manroland (Germany).

Annual revenue for the global printing equipment industry is expected to reach $18.4 billion by 2021, according to consulting firm Smithers Pira. Top countries for printing machinery production include Germany, Japan, and the US.

The US printing machinery and equipment manufacturing industry includes about 330 companies with combined annual revenue of about $2 billion.

The industry does not include manufacturing of textile printers or photographic and photocopying equipment. Home and office printers that connect to a PC are covered in the Computer Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing industry profile.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by commercial print volume, which depends primarily on advertising and other business needs for printed material. Profitability of individual companies depends primarily on manufacturing efficiencies. Large companies enjoy economies of scale in purchasing and manufacturing. Small companies can compete effectively by serving niche markets, such as envelope printing. The US industry is concentrated: the 50 largest companies generate about 75% of revenue.

Imports account for about half of the US market. Major printing machinery import sources for the US are Germany, Israel, Italy, and Japan.